Escaping the low-price trap: a brand increases the value of local specialties on the shelf

About 80% of Vietnamese agricultural products are exported in raw, unbranded form, according to data from the Vietnam WTO Center. This means millions of tons of fruits, rice, coffee, and honey leave the hands of farmers without any accompanying story. Their prices are determined by intermediaries, not by the creators. This is not a quality issue. This is an anonymity issue.

Low pricing is not due to poor quality

Thai jackfruit growers, black tiger shrimp farmers, and fish sauce producers often lack skill. They lack something else: the ability to communicate value to the end buyer. When a product has no unique name, no storytelling packaging, and no clear differentiating point, it becomes a commodity. Commodities only compete on one dimension: the lowest price.

Urban consumers are willing to pay more for clean specialties with clear origins. That willingness to pay does not automatically transfer to the growers just because the product is good. It only transfers when buyers have reasons to trust and reasons to choose. Those two reasons come from the brand, not from technical certifications.

OCOP certification is not a brand

As of now, Vietnam has over 17,000 products certified under the OCOP (One Commune One Product) program with 3 stars or more, including 126 products with 5 stars, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. This is a commendable achievement in quality control and processes. However, many households and cooperatives find that the OCOP star does not naturally attract customers to the shelves.

The reason is not hard to understand. Certification confirms that the product meets standards. A brand creates a reason for buyers to choose that product over a similarly certified one. Marty Neumeier, author of The Brand Gap, defines a brand as the "gut feeling" of customers, not certifications or awards. That feeling is built through a consistent name, image, story, and repeated experiences.

A brand is not a logo. A brand is a person's gut feeling about a product, service, or company.

Marty Neumeier, The Brand Gap

Packaging is a silent salesperson

In supermarkets, buyers do not have time to read certifications. The decision to choose or skip often happens within seconds. A study by Lindgaard and colleagues published in the journal Behaviour and Information Technology in 2006 shows that visual impressions form in about 50 milliseconds, much faster than any information on a label can be read and processed.

Packaging does more than protect the product. It is the first and often the only communication tool at the point of purchase. A box of Northwest forest honey with packaging that tells the story of the harvesters, showcases highland culture, and reflects natural values will occupy a completely different negotiating position compared to the same type of honey in a plastic jar with a thermal label. The quality inside may be the same. But customers cannot see inside before purchasing.

An effective packaging formula for regional specialties typically has four layers: specific origin (name of the region, name of the commune, name of the grower), patterns or images of local culture, emotional language connected to the consumer experience, and packaging materials that align with the price positioning.

The story of origin is a competitive barrier

Parmigiano-Reggiano (Italian cheese from the Parma and Reggio Emilia regions) and Café de Colombia (Colombian coffee) are two commonly cited examples in the industry of how geographical origin translates into measurable economic value. Both are protected geographical indications and simultaneously invest in long-term storytelling about their origins in the market.

Vietnam has had a geographical indication for Phu Quoc fish sauce since 2001 and Buon Ma Thuot coffee since 2005. However, legal protection and brand storytelling are two different things. Protection prevents others from using the name. Brand storytelling gives that name value in the eyes of buyers. Without the latter, the protected name remains just an administrative symbol.

The risk from the opposite side is also real. ST24 and ST25 rice have been trademarked by some companies in the U.S. before the Vietnamese producers. This is a consequence of not protecting brand assets early, not a fault of product quality.

When to start

A common mistake is waiting until you are "bigger" to invest in branding. The reality is the opposite: branding is what helps you grow, not a reward after you are big. When the scale is still small, the cost of laying a solid foundation is often much lower than the cost of redoing it after widespread distribution with an inconsistent identity.

Three signals indicate it’s time to take this seriously: you are primarily selling through intermediaries and have no pricing power; your product is being directly compared to cheaper indistinguishable goods; you want to enter modern channels (supermarkets, e-commerce) but lack a compelling identity to persuade partners.

The initial step does not necessarily have to be a complete branding system. It can be: a clear name and trademark registration, packaging that tells the right story, and establishing a consistent positioning across all communication channels. These three elements, done correctly and consistently, are enough to create a gap compared to similar products on the same shelf.